Improvement in devices for removing dirt



" A. COLLINS.

Devices for Removing Dirt, &0., from Steam- Patented-Oct. 8, 18.78"

Boilers;

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P MmgaY$6UL UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AID COLLINS, OF NEW VIENNA, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN DEVICES FOR REMOVING DIRT, &c., FROM STEAM-BOILERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,794, dated October8, 1878; application filed August 31, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AID COLLINS, of New Vienna, Olintoncounty, Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices forRemoving Dirt and Sediment from Steam-Boilers and I hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part-ofthis specification, and which represents a side view of a steam-boilerprovided with my improvement.

In the said drawing, A represents the mason-work of the setting, and Bthe boiler. These are of the usual form.

C is the ordinary mud-drum, extended below the boiler back of the grate,and consisting of the transverse horizontal drum or cylinder 0,connected to the bottom of the boiler by the upright leg 0.

In the upper part of the boiler I place a shallow receptacle, D, whichopens into a pipe, E, communicating with the upright settlingchamber F,located at any convenient point outside of the boiler, preferably asshown in the drawing.

The shallow receptacle or basin D, it will be noticed, is inclined at anangle to the horizon. It is thus inclined in order that the rise andfall of the water may not so readily submerge and denude it. The inclinegives several inches play to the surface-line, as will be readilyunderstood. This basin catches the loose scale, sediment, and dirt whichthe ebullition casts to the surface, and the pipe E carries the sameoutside of the boiler to the settling-chamber F, above mentioned.

The settling-chamber is made in the form of an upright cylinder. It may,however, be of other form, if desired, and is high enough to give ampletime for its contents to settle tranquilly. The inflow-pipe E, carryingthe dirt-charged hot water, enters this chamber at the top, and iscarried down, as shown in the drawing, to near the bottom of thechamber.

An outflow-pipe, G, leads from the upper part of the settling-chamber tothe lower part of the boiler, preferably to the mud-drum, where itassists in warming the feed-water. Both these pipes E and G arefurnished with regulating and cut-off valves.

.The operation is as follows: The surfacewater, which is, of course,always the warmest, is forced by the pressure into the pipe E,

being discharged into the settling-chamber near the bottom. Thissettling-chamber being solidly full of water, no agitation of anyconsequence exists within it, and hence the heavy particles of dirt,scale, &c., either remain at the bottom where deposited, or, if theyrise with the current, fall back again to the bottom and remain there,while the water, freed from its heavy impurities, flows out at the pipeG to the coldest part of the boiler. This taking of the water from thehottest and returning it to the coldest part of the boiler serves tokeep up an automatic circulation through the settling-chamber.

When a quantity of sediment has collected in the bottom of thesettling-chamber the blow-off cock H may be opened, when theboiler-pressure will blow the dirt all out.

Of course, it will happen sometimes that foreign matter will be found insome kinds of water which will be lighter than the water, and, floating,will collect in the upper part of the settling-chamber. To provide forthis, I sometimes insert a blow-off cock in the upper part of saidchamber.

The pipe E, instead of passing down through the chamber, may passoutside and enter at the proper point through the side wall; but Iprefer to have it pass through the chamber, because heat is thus savedand general convenience thus consulted, and I think it operates betterthus.

I claim- 1. The upright settling-chamber having the inflow at the bottomand the outflow at the top, all constructed and arranged substantiallyas specified.

2. The upright settling-chamber having an inflow-pipe leading downthrough the water from the top to near the bottom, and an outflow-pipenear the top, constructed and arranged substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the settling-chamber, of the inflow-pipeleading down to near the bottom, the outflow-pipe near the top, andablow-off cock at the bottom, constructed and arranged substantially asdescribed and shown.

4. The combination, with the pipe E, of the shallow inclined basin orreceptacle D, constructed and arranged substantially as specified.

Witnesses:

JOHN BELL, H. BOLEMAN.

AID COLLINS.

